Faith of the First Ladies

Faith of the First Ladies

By Chip MacGregor and Marie Prys

Copyright 2013 by Chip MacGregor and Marie Prys

Smashwords Edition

Published in association with MacGregor Literary, Inc., Portland, Oregon.

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Table of Contents

Day One - Martha Dandridge Custis Washington

Day Two - Abigail Smith Adams

Day Three - Dolley Payne Todd Madison

Day Four - Elizabeth Kortright Monroe

Day Five - Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams

Day Six - Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson

Day Seven - Hannah Hoes Van Buren

Day Eight - Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison

Day Nine - Letitia Christian Tyler

Day Ten - Sarah Childress Polk

Day Eleven - Abigail Powers Fillmore

Day Twelve - Jane Means Appleton Pierce

Day Thirteen - Julia Dent Grant

Day Fourteen - Lucy Ware Webb Hayes

Day Fifteen - Frances Folsom Cleveland

Day Sixteen - Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison

Day Seventeen - Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt

Day Eighteen - Ellen Louise Axson Wilson

Day Nineteen - Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge

Day Twenty - Lou Henry Hoover

Day Twenty-one - Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

Day Twenty-two - Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman

Day Twenty-three - Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower

Day Twenty-four - Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson

Day Twenty-five - Thelma Catherine Ryan Nixon

Day Twenty-six - Elizabeth Bloomer Warren Ford

Day Twenty-seven - Rosalynn Smith Carter

Day Twenty-eight - Barbara Pierce Bush

Day Twenty-nine - Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

Day Thirty - Laura Lane Welch Bush

Bibliography

About the Authors

Dedications

For Tom Day, who inspired me to write, and Helen Bateman, who encouraged me to be better than I was. Great teachers change lives. You both changed mine.

Chip

For my sisters—Karen, Teri, Laura, and Kristen.

Marie

A human life is like a candle. It is lit when a baby is born. It reaches out perhaps at first only in the effect even a very tiny life can have on the immediate family. But with every year of growth the light grows stronger and spreads farther. Sometimes it has to struggle for brightness, but sometimes the inner light is strong and bright from the very beginning and grows with the years.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Introduction

Harry S. Truman once remarked that he hoped some day someone will take time to evaluate the true role of the wife of a President, and to assess the many burdens she has to bear and the contribution she makes. He would likely be pleased by the fact that there are literally hundreds of published books detailing the First Ladies’ efforts and contributions—and many of these volumes are exceptional scholarly works based on painstaking research of letters, diaries, and manuscripts, as well as carefully documented interviews with both First Ladies and their descendants.

Yet our curiosity persists. In the face of personal tragedy, public scrutiny, war, and constant love of country, we long to know what these women thought, felt, and believed. Many of their husbands prayed for strength, read the Bible, and sought divine wisdom. What about the ladies? With the pressures of living under a microscope, entertaining hundreds of people on a regular basis, and caring for their families through political highs and lows, how did they cope?

Many of the First Ladies left no memoirs, diaries, or correspondence. Thus it is not possible to have documented proof of the personal beliefs and prayers of all the talented women who have served the United States of America in the role of First Lady. Yet what endures, regardless of whether their thoughts were written down and preserved, are the stories of the First Ladies—their actions, legacies, and their children’s memories. We have chosen to include in this book the stories of thirty of these remarkable women who proved to be models of steadfast faith.

The Bible speaks of the beauty of a woman coming from within. Her true bloom is seen in a gentle spirit, a choice to put all hope in God, and a desire to love and honor her husband (1 Peter 3:4-5). It is not surprising that Americans have most celebrated the First Ladies who were compassionate, generous, caring, and strongly supportive of their husbands’ efforts. Such attributes reveal a heart shaped by God.

Day One

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731-1802)

Her case is more to be envied than pitied, for if we mortals can distinguish between those who are deserving of Grace & who are not, I am confident she enjoys that Bliss prepar’d only for the Good & virtuous. Let these considerations, My dear Mother have their due weight with you, & comfort yourself with reflecting that she now enjoys in substance what we in this world enjoy in imagination, & that there is no real Happiness on this side of the Grave. I must allow that to sustain a shock of this kind requires more Philosophy than we in general are possest [sic] of, my Nature could not bear the Shock, but sunk under the load of oppression, and hindered me from administering any consolation to my dear & nearest relation; this Letter is the first thing I have done since I receiv’d the melancholy News . . . I will no longer detain you on a subject which is painful to us both, but conclude with beging [sic] you to remember you are a Christian & that we ought to submit with Patience to the divine Will.

In a letter from Martha’s son, John Parke Custis, on receiving word of the death of his sister Patsy, New York, July 5, 1773

Life and Times

Years before the White House even existed, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington became the first of the First Ladies and set an example of hospitality and determination for succeeding Presidents’ wives to emulate.

Born on a plantation outside of Williamsburg, Virginia, on June 2, 1731, Martha was the eldest daughter born to John and Frances Dandridge. Although she lacked much formal education, she learned what it takes to keep a household content and in order.

At the age of eighteen, the five-foot-tall, dark-haired Martha married Daniel Parke Custis. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. The other two, Patsy and John, were still toddlers when Daniel Custis passed away in 1757.

Two years after her husband’s death, she married again. Her husband this time was George Washington, a leader in the Revolutionary War. Over the next thirty years, she faithfully stood by him through the hardships of war, caring for him and her children.

On April 30, 1789, George Washington took his oath of office in New York City, making him the first President of the United States and making Martha the First Lady. Bravely she followed her husband into unknown territory as the American government slowly came into being. Together, she and her husband set the standard for all succeeding Presidents and First Ladies.

I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from . . . Martha Washington said in a letter to her niece. She was not entirely convinced that the role of First Lady suited her and said, many younger and gayer women would be extremely pleased to be where she was, but she would much rather be at home.

In an effort to be recognized as equals to the governments of Europe, the Washingtons entertained visitors in a formal style. Despite the stiffness of this type of official entertaining, Martha managed to put guests at ease with her warm hospitality. Abigail Adams commended her for being one of those unassuming characters which create love and esteem during these formal gatherings and receptions.

In 1797 the Washingtons retired from public life and surrounded themselves with family, friends, and guests at their Mount Vernon residence. They stayed busy raising their two grandchildren, Eleanor and George.

Two years later George died. To ensure their privacy would be preserved, Martha burned the letters they had written. On May 22, 1802, Martha died, taken by a severe fever. The two of them are buried at Mount Vernon.

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.

Interesting Facts

Martha had the unfortunate experience of outliving all four of her children. Her longest living child, John, whom the President and his wife called Jack, passed away in 1781. Martha lived another twenty-one years, comforted by Jack’s two children and her husband.

Martha was a dedicated wife, accompanying her husband even to Valley Forge. She was constantly tending to her husband as well as to the many soldiers there, as evidenced by the journal entry of another military wife who was also staying in Valley Forge:

I never in my life knew a woman so busy from early morning until late at night as was Lady Washington, providing comforts for the sick soldiers. Everyday, excepting Sunday, the wives of the officers in camp, and sometimes other women, were invited . . . to assist her in knitting socks, patching garments, and make shirts for the poor soldiers, when materials could be procured. Every fair day she might be seen, with basket in hand, and with a single attendant.

Martha went to church all of her life and apparently was a strong